Rounding Third: All quiet in Nashville

Unlike last year in Dallas where big signings seemed to come in by the minute, these Winter Meetings have been a ho-hum affair thus far.

No offense to Mike Napoli and Angel Pagan, of course.

So, with nothing cooking with regards to the two big ticket items on the free
agent market - Josh Hamilton and Zack Greinke - the biggest name being floated
around in trade discussions continues to be New York Mets Cy Young Award
winner R.A. Dickey.

The more you hear, the more you begin to realize that he will not be pitching
in Flushing next season. And that's not a bad thing either.

Dickey is 38 years old. Reports last week said he'd be happy signing a two-
year deal, but now we hear he wants three years. His trade value is never
going to be higher than it is right now. In case you haven't noticed the Mets
are not going to compete for anything in the foreseeable future. They need to
rebuild and this is a way to do it.

The Los Angeles Dodgers, Kansas City Royals, Boston Red Sox, Texas Rangers and
now the Baltimore Orioles are all in on the knuckleballer, plus a team or two
we probably don't even know about. The Mets are looking for a catcher and some
outfield help. It may not get done this week, but it's going to get done.
Dickey is a goner.

And again, that's not a bad thing.

Speaking of Greinke, he's really holding up the action here. Once he finds a
home, then you'll see the likes of Edwin Jackson, Kyle Lohse, Dan Haren and
others fall in line. The trade talk then really might get going if the Tampa
Bay Rays lure the Greinke losers with Matt Moore or James Shields.

The Dodgers and Rangers still appear to be the frontrunners with the Angels
lurking in the shadows on Greinke. Don't count the Halos out here. They moved
on from Dan Haren and dealt Ervin Santana with the thinking they'd re-sign
Greinke. I wouldn't count them out just yet.

Another intriguing name that popped up in trade discussions on Monday was that
of Cleveland shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera. Apparently the Indians are looking
for four players and had the framework for a deal in place that would have
seen them get a major league pitcher and two prospects. Talks broke off when
the Tribe asked for a third prospect.

But, like we we've learned in the past. Believe nothing.

Some other rumblings:

*The Detroit Tigers top bullpen priority continues to be Rafael Soriano and
they would like to get something done this week.

*Philadelphia is running out of outfield options. They lost out on B.J. Upton
and Angel Pagan and now could go running back to Shane Victorino. The Phils
don't appear to be in on speedster Michael Bourn, though. Could Nick Swisher
be an option?

*Heading into these meetings a surprisingly active name was first baseman Adam
LaRoche. However, that market has dried up with the Red Sox signing Mike
Napoli and the Rays agreeing with James Loney. It looks as if it will be a
Battle of the Beltway for LaRoche's services with the Nationals obviously
holding the edge.

*The Seattle Mariners seem to be the most interested in Hamilton, but the lack
of discussion surrounding him is just bizarre. You almost get the feeling
that he may just land with one of the Phillies, Red Sox or Yankees after all.
Still, most feel he'll wind up re-signing with the Rangers.